Former British Olympic sprinter, barrister, son of former Mayor of Wallasey, shot himself in Lisbon on Friday of last week.
Lisbon police have stated an autopsy confirmed that he had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. A pistol and a note nearby were found at the Ritz Hotel, Lisbon, where Mr. Pennington had been staying and where he was found with shot wounds in the head, from which he died later in hospital.
Mr. Pennington's wife, who is a sister of comedian Jimmy Edwards, said in an interview "My husband had gone to Lisbon in connection with his business, and was due to return in a few days time. This is all a dreadful shock."
Mr Pennington often went abroad on short business trips. His wife and four children remained at home. Their home is at Peaslake, near Shere, Surrey
Son of the late Mr John Pennington, for many years a prominent member of the Wallasey Council, who was Mayor from February 1943 to November 1945, Mr. Alan Pennington represented Great Britain at the 1936 Olympic Games after winning a Blue at Oxford, where he was president of the athletics club and a member of Hertford College. He obtained his degree of M.A. at Hertford College in 1962.
At one time he was British quarter mile champion and English native record holder. He also played cricket for Neston and rugby for Birkenhead Park and was a member of Wallasey Golf Club.
AN APPRECIATION
Mr. J. Edwards, president of Wallasey Athletic Club, writes:
"Alan Pennington was Wallasey's most distinguished athlete of all time. In the years 1936-39 when this country had a galaxy of sprinters and quarter-milers he fought his way to the top and was reigning 440 yards A.A.A. champion in 1939 with the Olympic Games scheduled for the following year. It is fair to say the Hitler war probably robbed him of even higher athletic honours.
In the 1936 Olympic team in Berlin, Alan Pennington just missed a place in the final of the 100 metres being placed fourth to Jesse Owens in the semi-final and was the most successful sprinter at the games.
Whilst at Oxford he captained a combined Oxford and Cambridge team against Princeton and Cornell at the White City in 1938 winning both sprints.
A very powerful runner, much of his early training was done in Wallasey under the skilled eye of the late W. S. Brookes, for many years chairman and vice-president of Wallasey A.C."
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 10/06/1961
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